FLOYD BANKS

When a Tennessee artist began to construct his very own castle in which to live, he did not envisage it would be requisitioned for a higher purpose

In the plush green and hilly countryside around the small, eastern Tennessee town of Greenback (population 1600), a handmade, metal sign nailed to a fence reads “Castle” and points visitors onto a narrow, gravel road densely-lined with trees, brush and a few small houses. Several hand-painted wooden signs are dotted along the roadside.

the castle grounds are littered with donations from visitors

Several hand-painted wooden signs are dotted along the roadside. One begins: “LOOK HOW MENY PEOPLE – ARE GOING TO DIE TODAY. THIS BUILDING WOULDHAVE MADE ALL THE DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD TO TH... ” . Further along, where the road opens out in front of Greenback Castle, a final sign bears the message: “PRESOUS PEOPLE IF YOU dON’T KNOW WHAT IS going ON HERE “PLEASE FINdOUT REAL QUICK” .

Floyd “Junior” Banks lives nearby in a small, weathered frame house. When in 1993, aged 47, he started building the castle by hand from recycled materials, he had thoughts of being a “big shot” living in an imposing residence. But after experiencing what he considers to be miraculous visions – that he says “can’t happen, but did happen” – he came to understand that God would use his castle to reveal prophesy, and offer “scientific proof” of His existence. “I wanted to be King of the Castle, get all the ladies,” says Banks. “But that didn’t work out. I’m not the King, I’m the groundskeeper.”

the curved walls of the central tower are brightly painted with crosses

An open structure, the castle consists of two brick and concrete block walls – each about 40 metres long and eight metres high – which, at a right angle to each other, meet at an imposing central tower. Inside, is a stone and concrete walkway running along a series of ten or so small, mostly open-air rooms attached to the castle walls. Across from the rooms is a concrete-embedded display of stones and “Indian artefacts” , a row of grapevines, and a pet cemetery which, with a tree-branch cross, draped in purple, is the resting place of the numerous stray dogs (and one goat) that Banks has taken in over the years, as well as the pets of visitors who have asked to use the burial spot. The artist has provided a concrete, inscribed headstone for each animal, about 25 in all.